And Detekt only spots eight different types of malware, including the strains most commonly used by governments. Now that government-hired hackers know there's a foil around, they're sure to find a workaround, Guarnieri acknowledged.

But it's not meant to be the only solution, said Jillian C. York, who worked on the project as EFF's director for international freedom of expression.

"It's just one more piece of a toolkit to fight corporations selling spyware to democratic and authoritarian governments," she said. "But we absolutely need it."

The fact that Detekt was made an open-source project means that it can only get better, because anyone can see how the code works -- and contribute to it. It also makes Detekt trustworthy, said Mikko Hypponen, the top security researcher at F-Secure in Finland.

But if anything else, the man behind Detekt also expects it will spark a conversation about the ethical ramifications of government espionage.

"I also hope that this will get people to reflect on how they feel about their governments using spyware," Guarnieri said.